Was the NAVI CS2 Major win a fluke?

After a disappointing Round of 12 finish, NAVI are out of ESL Pro League Season 19. It was a 2:0 defeat to FaZe which sealed their fate, earning revenge for the Final of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.

With the team taking a short break after their Major triumph, you’d be forgiven for thinking that NAVI would come to EPL re-energized. Instead, we got a showing that was thoroughly underwhelming. It has already led to some questions about NAVI’s Major win, and whether it was a fluke or not. We’re taking a look at some factors to find out whether that’s the case!

Their star struggled to show up at ESL Pro League

Credit: ESLCS on X.

Of late, jL has proven to be NAVI’s jewel in the crown. His lights-out performances in 2024 have played a big part in NAVI’s recent improvements, and he was even the MVP of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. However, when he doesn’t show up, NAVI are a much worse team – it’s just that simple.

At ESL Pro League Season 19, jL had his worst event in 2024, by the numbers. He had his lowest kills per round (0.64), highest deaths per round (0.70), and finished the tournament with a -12 K/D in total. Now, if the rest of the year is to go by, this should prove to be an outlier, and jL will be back in form soon enough. And if jL’s back, and the rest of the team performs at their average level, there’s no doubt that NAVI as a whole can win more CS2 tournaments this year.

NAVI had a tough EPL bracket

Credit: ESLCS on X.

No matter how you look at it, NAVI were given a tough break in their EPL Playoffs bracket. If there’s one team you wouldn’t want to face in the Round of 12, it’s FaZe. No matter the form they’re in, they’re always a problem team who can beat anyone. With a team of NAVI’s immense quality, you could flip a coin to decide the winner here.

Ultimately, we don’t think this reflects too poorly on NAVI. Facing anyone but FaZe, they likely would have had a stronger ESL Pro League Season 19 finish. Even just winning their match against Complexity would have given them a much easier side of the bracket, and we’d be having a totally different conversation about NAVI.

NAVI peaked at the right time at the Major

Credit: ESLCS on X.

There’s no doubt at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, NAVI peaked at the perfect moment. Counter-Strike is a game that ebbs and flows – teams have their ups and downs, peaking at different times. Now, this doesn’t mean that NAVI will never reach that peak again, but a small downturn was inevitable. Not every team can be FaZe, with Grand Finals galore for months on end.

Peaking at the Major is just what any Major winner does. Vitality did it in Paris, Outsiders did it in Rio, FaZe in Antwerp, and even NAVI prior to that did it in Stockholm back in 2021. It doesn’t make it a ‘fluke’ because it happened at just the right time. This was just a great team operating at the peak of its powers. We may not have seen it at ESL Pro League, but we’re confident that NAVI’s Major win wasn’t a fluke, and they’ll hit their peak soon enough to prove the doubters wrong all over again.